Sonic Colors: Ultimate - Announcement Trailer

[FReaK]

Well, for me the game crashed on ps5 while saving so I had to restart and lost 4 hours of progress because my save was corrupted.

But I managed to finish 58% today, tropical resort is completely done and I have 140 red rings currently.

Other then that I'm having fun, I can confirm the sound issues though.

Also, fck that credits level and its trophy. That thing is WAY too long.

[Cube]

Finished the main story, still have lots to do. It's Sonic Colours, just more refined and looking nicer. Didn't encounter any technical issues at all.

I wasn't a big fan of the Tails save (wish there was an option to disable it), but enjoyed the lack of lives. Loved all the music.

 

Also, I kind of really like Sonic with the "Movie Sonic" aura. 

 

Edit: just to clarify, I'm playing in Xbox Series S.

[Graystripe2000]

Someone who actually had experience with ports came out explaining multiple reasons why Colors ultimate uses a different engine than the original. Read the whole thread.

 

[King Conne]

Has the final battle of the DS version Super Sonic Vs Nega Mother Wisp) been included in ULTIMATE to complete the storyline?!...

[Graystripe2000]

Nope. I don’t think the DS version was ever considered canon to begin with.

[NoKaine]

 

  

19 minutes ago, Graystripe2000 said:

Someone who actually had experience with ports came out explaining multiple reasons why Colors ultimate uses a different engine than the original. Read the whole thread.

 

So it seems that Colors was actually a lot more tied to the Wii than anticipated, that even porting the game to modern hardware was a hassle, and they used Godot because it was cheap and easy to use to develop at home, possibly due to the COVID pandemic.

Basically, it sounds like SEGA should've actually got Sonic Team to do the remaster, since they are much more acquainted with Colors and the Hedgehog Engine.

How ironic. They used a third-party studio to keep Sonic Team on Rangers and the remaster suffered as a result.

[Indigo Rush]

2 hours ago, King Conne said:

Has the final battle of the DS version Super Sonic Vs Nega Mother Wisp) been included in ULTIMATE to complete the storyline?!...

They barely completed the port.

[Red Hot Jack]

I knew the Switch version was gonna suck because of graphics downgrade and 30 FPS but Gosh... Didn't expect all of this, still, I decided to pre-order it on PC for better enhancements, and I made the right choice in the end, yeah yeah no mods for now but I just want to play the best possible version of the game. 

But still, what a nightmare it must be for Switch players, I can only imagine...

Now I really do feel guilty for having fun on my pc.

8 hours ago, NoKaine said:

 

  

So it seems that Colors was actually a lot more tied to the Wii than anticipated, that even porting the game to modern hardware was a hassle, and they used Godot because it was cheap and easy to use to develop at home, possibly due to the COVID pandemic.

Basically, it sounds like SEGA should've actually got Sonic Team to do the remaster, since they are much more acquainted with Colors and the Hedgehog Engine.

How ironic. They used a third-party studio to keep Sonic Team on Rangers and the remaster suffered as a result.

And this makes me even more angry at Rangers, I get it, brand new release takes priority spot, but still Colors did not deserve this, well, I hope they fix most of the stuff with even more patches.

[PickleBrows]

So one thing that's been present pretty much since the announcement and is still in the final game is something really minor but infuriating once you can't stop looking at it.

We know Sonic's lost some eye animation on some of the pre-level animations he does. The one thing he DOES do is blink which is great but every third blink or so (I expect this is where the animation cycle loops) Sonic's eyelids don't fully hide afterwards so he has this weird looking expression until he blinks again. During gameplay it obviously doesn't matter but for during those pre-level animations and inside the cosmetics menu it really becomes obvious. Just a nitpick for me as a 3D animator.

I played up to the end of Aquarium Park last night. I've not had any severe gameplay glitches yes but I've had a fair amount of music going missing, choppy audio, and also had that bugged-out opening to that one Starlight Carnival level that everybody seems to be getting currently. Also not really a bug but the cutscenes really don't hold up on a 4K TV. It was never going to be great upscalling standard definition video but it's a real seam in the presentation.

On the whole though I'm having a good time with it. Colours might be mostly 2D but it at least bothers to do something with that. After having Forces as the only "3D" Sonic available on current gen consoles it's nice to have something with a bit more substance.

 

[Willsy]

Beat the story yesterday and currently working on 100%. Playing on Series X. Overall I'd say the actual remastering work, that is, the visuals and bump to 60fps, are well done. The visual changes feel like they make sense to me, and stages like Planet Wisp look especially nice. It's a nice looking game overall in my opinion. The impact of the framerate bump cannot be understated, it's buttery smooth, makes the game feel much more fluid and just flat-out plays better than the Wii version did. I also enjoyed most of the remixes, even if the original soundtrack is still superior. Starlight Carnival Act 2 is an absolute banger. Customisstion is basic but appreciated, this needs to be a series mainstay going forward.

So on paper this should be an absolute win in my book...

....BUT: Ultimate really, *really* needs some patches. To preface, this isn't anywhere near 06/Boom levels of buggy, but there are a ton of rough edges that weren't present in the original. Music cutting out, atrocious sound mixing, pop-in, sluggish menus, the Starlight Carnival Act 3 intro animation are just some of the issues on a laundry list of things that need to be addressed. I really hope Sega and Blind Squirrel intend to support the game for a bit and get it into a better state. It would be a shame if an otherwise nice remaster of a very good game was tarnished by technical problems like this, we don't need another SADX situation where a lot of people's exposure to Colours is through a buggy port.

[Detective Kaito]

It's funny how this game was supposed to come out last year and it still has all these issues.

A good reminder that just cause SEGA delays a project doesn't mean it's gonna come out virtually free of bugs.

[BadBehavior]

They pawned this off to a 3rd party so Sonic Team could focus on Rangers. "Theyre all hands on deck to make it the best possible game it can be." Cos who knows how this powderkeg of a fanbase will explode if it isnt.

[KingMario05]

1 hour ago, BadBehavior said:

They pawned this off to a 3rd party so Sonic Team could focus on Rangers. "Theyre all hands on deck to make it the best possible game it can be." Cos who knows how this powderkeg of a fanbase will explode if it isnt.

Oh, if Rangers is trash, we'll fucking explode. I'm almost certain of it.

[Shaddy Zaphod]

10 minutes ago, KingMario05 said:

Oh, if Rangers is trash, we'll fucking explode. I'm almost certain of it.

No we won't, there will be a lot of banal sarcasm for a few weeks, and a couple of people will say they're done with the fanbase forever and then show back up like four days later.

[NoKaine]

Sonic is immortal and will live forever.

Okay. "live" is assuming a lot. "survive" Sonic will survive forever.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

2 hours ago, Shaddy Zaphod said:

No we won't, there will be a lot of banal sarcasm for a few weeks, and a couple of people will say they're done with the fanbase forever and then show back up like four days later.

It's funny because it's true. People tend to be a lot more talk than actual action in that regard.

[Nix]

Since this seems to be the place were people are posting their impressions... KingK just posted a video that highlights literally everything I have experienced and hate about Colors Ultimate.

Colors deserves so much better than this.

[McGroose]

A Sonic game where the big reviewers like IGN and Destructoid are giving mostly praise to the game while fans are roasting the game all over the place.

It feels like I haven't seen something like this since Sonic 4

[VO.SUPER]

9 minutes ago, McGroose said:

A Sonic game where the big reviewers like IGN and Destructoid are giving mostly praise to the game while fans are roasting the game all over the place.

It feels like I haven't seen something like this since Sonic 4

Honestly, it feels like the opposite of SADX while still being aligned. I guess that speaks a lot of the innate design of Colours vs SA just being friendlier to non-fans.

[JezMM]

Just when I thought I'd seen all the audio oddities - both decision-wise and glitch-wise - another funny couple of things came up today.

I was flicking through the sound test when I noticed Starlight Carnival Act 4 and Act 6 are both the same song - the original version of Act 2.  I thought this was a goof on the sound test, but I checked the stages themselves and discovered they too are the only stages in the game to share a song.  Again, I thought it tomfoolery on the Ultimate team's part, but upon checking the original Wii game, indeed there, both stages feature the same song.  I.e., Starlight Carnival is, and always has been, the one zone in the game where the "Act 2" song is used three times and the "Act 3" song is only used once.  As a result, the original version of Starlight Carnival Act 3 never shows up in Colours Ultimate.  Anyway, the agonising inconsistency of this aside...

I also noticed that the sound test does in fact include the original versions of the boss themes, titled with the names "vs Refreshinator" "vs Admiral Jelly" "vs Skullian" - the second set of bosses specifically.  This suggests that the plan was to use the original songs for the second half of the game's bosses, but in gameplay, the remixes get used a second time over.

Tiny, pedantic details in the grand scheme of things, but I find these interesting anyway.  The Starlight Carnival inconsistency with other zones will bother me forever and I was happier not noticing it.  I'm still not over how the original OST release always broke up the act themes with other songs inbetween except Asteroid Coaster which had Act 1 and 2 listed back to back.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

In all honesty, I'd rather Sega done a straight up port of Sonic Colors. Like what they did with Sonic Adventure DX/2 on PS3/360.

Yes it won't be in 60FPS and this game is a dream on 60FPS (like on Dolphin) but I would HAPPILY sacrifice that.

Because the Colors Ultimate port does not improve the original, and I was about to say this is a lazy port but...what I described on the first sentence is a lazy port. This is actually worse. Sloppish.

[McGroose]

Sega should've just followed Nintendo's route with Skyward Sword... minus the price.

Increase the resolution of the game, slap a 60fps fix onto it, add a few more UI/menu/hud tweaks, adjust the controls for modern consoles, the end. Who asked for any of this other garbage?

I didn't want mediocre remixes, a forced easy mode and awful lighting, I wanted Sonic Colors at 60 FPS. The visuals are the worst part about the game, not only does it look awful but the 'enhancements' mean that the game is limited to 30FPS on switch. That's ridiculous, this is a Wii game from 2010. This would easily run at 1080p 60FPS on the Switch LITE if it weren't for these graphical changes.

28 minutes ago, Ming Ming Hatsune said:

I described on the first sentence is a lazy port. This is actually worse. Sloppish.

You're right, this is not a lazy port, not at all. That's the wrong word choice. In fact, I think these guys needed way more time. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were probably working hard to fix all this crap, but they just didn't have time. I'm sure the devs working on the Switch version were worrying the entire time knowing that their game was an absolute mess and that there was no way it would be fixed sufficiently enough to not be an absolute embarrassment once it hits store shelves.

[NoKaine]

Y'know, I remember talking about Rangers on the other thread and whether the Switch would drag it down.

I said "no, Sonic Team if nothing else is competent with making their games run on hardware like that (and Colors Ultimate kind of proves that; again, how ironic that NOT making Sonic Team working on some extraneous game was the wrong idea), and if they can't get it to run, they'll give it to another studio to work on." 

And I still think that's true, but now we need to worry about whether that studio can do the job either. Actually, what makes me upset is that delaying a specific version of a game to polish it is something that SEGA and Sonic Team have done before in the past but apparently not here.

 

[Rocketjay8]

12 hours ago, Shaddy Zaphod said:

No we won't, there will be a lot of banal sarcasm for a few weeks, and a couple of people will say they're done with the fanbase forever and then show back up like four days later.

I don't know why the fuck people keep doing this. I'm at a lost and dissapointed on how Sega keeps getting away with this. Not talking about all of ya'll on this forum.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Interesting fact - the Cutting Room Floor found three cut achievements from the game, one of which is a staggering exclusion:

• Who Ya Gonna Race? - Beat the time of Any Ghost Racer
• So... Metal - Complete all of Metal Sonic's Rival Challenges
• Ghost in the Machine - Upload a Ghost

The first and third achievements are pretty whatever - most would agree online trophies in Sonic games like Gens had are ultimately pointless inclusions that serve to put a timegate on how attainable the achievement will be.

However - the lack of achievement for completing all of Metal Sonic's races is absolutely baffingly, given that it's the only real main feature Ultimate itself brings to the table.